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Spitzer Space Telescope Celebrates 5th Birthday With Portrait of Stellar Nursery
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 10:00 AM on August 24, 2008
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the last of the space agency's Great Observatories satellites to launch, celebrated its fifth birthday recently... giving me the opportunity to post this amazing multigenerational picture of star-forming region in the constellation Cassiopeia, 6,500 light-years from Earth. The photo takes in an area equivalent to four full moons and puts on show how one generation of massive stars can give birth to the next.
The US$800 million telescope, which was named after the first man to propose putting telescopes in space, Dr. Lyman Spitzer Jr., launched on August 25 2003 from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Its mission will conclude when its onboard helium supply is exhausted--estimates from 2007 put that date at April 2009. So happy birthday, Spitzer Space Telescope! May you continue to provide us with awesome pictures for the last leg of your journey! [Cosmiclog]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
stephenfalken
Posted 10:30 AM 24/8/08
How did Eliot get a telescope?
stephenfalken
drallac
Posted 10:23 AM 24/8/08
@dlmoody: nope exactly what i thought when i saw it :)
drallac
Triplet66
Posted 10:22 AM 24/8/08
any chance for a hi-res link? will make a kick-butt wallpaper!!!
Triplet66
Holyelephant
Posted 10:20 AM 24/8/08
Usually the color in the photos is added artificially and often depicts things not out of the spectrum of visible light.
Holyelephant
dlmoody
Posted 10:19 AM 24/8/08
Ummm... am I the only one who sees a red skull?
dlmoody
Charging_Mooses
Posted 10:15 AM 24/8/08
I wonder if this is true-to-life colors or not?
its still fantastic though...
Charging_Mooses
swoyekr
Posted 10:15 AM 24/8/08
I want a spaceship!
swoyekr
ZetaCrossfire
Posted 10:06 AM 24/8/08
things like that, that makes you feel small in the world.
ZetaCrossfire
Letiumtide
Posted 10:55 AM 24/8/08
I figured I couldn't be the only one that wanted to see the hi-res version so I could flip it and have it on my desktop as a background. Gorgeous.
[ipac.jpl.nasa.gov]
Letiumtide
Titus_Andronicus
Posted 10:52 AM 24/8/08
there has got to be at least one other person here who's thinking it, but i'm going to say it.
that shit needs to be airbrushed onto the side of my van. right now. seriously.
and yesdlmoody, i see a red skull as well.
so much the better, as it beats trying to design an appropriate wizard, or bare breasted amazon woman. lmao
Titus_Andronicus
Curves
Posted 10:51 AM 24/8/08
Awe inspiring.
Curves
kydrice
Posted 10:50 AM 24/8/08
@Triplet66:
click on the cosmiclog link.
kydrice
lionelbob
Posted 11:17 AM 24/8/08
Reminds me of the background of some of the black-light posters you used to see at the head shop, if you were alive in the mid-60's.
lionelbob
RainyDayInterns
Posted 11:28 AM 24/8/08
OK...that is WAY cooler than our first attempt at astrophotography last Thursday night, but we at least found the moon :-)
Check it out here:
[www.rainydaymagazine.com]
We are trying for Jupiter tonight!
RainyDayInterns
poppy
Posted 11:25 AM 24/8/08
Okay, I've tried and I've tried, but I can't figure out what this part of this sentence means:
four full moons and puts on show how one generation
What language is this? Can anyone tell me what the fuck this means? Specifically "and puts on show".
poppy
dlmoody
Posted 11:24 AM 24/8/08
Well, I for one am relieved that the giant hooded red skull is here to foretell the doom of all mankind and not just my personal demise.
dlmoody
rentahero1
Posted 12:01 PM 24/8/08
@stephenfalken: And more importantly, how can he use it to traffic stars across galactic borders illegally?
rentahero1
badhatharry
Posted 11:59 AM 24/8/08
Hey, I can see my house from here.
@lionelbob: Or walked into a Spencer's Gifts in the mid-nineties.
badhatharry
ReynaldoRiv
Posted 12:26 PM 24/8/08
I can also see someone Gasping for air (their lips anyway) in the purple/red space under the purple/red Vader head
ReynaldoRiv
ReynaldoRiv
Posted 12:24 PM 24/8/08
I can kinda see Darth Vader in this image HAHAHA
ReynaldoRiv
jabber
Posted 1:45 PM 24/8/08
@stephenfalken: Maybe Ashley Dupré gave it to him to bribe him in wearing a condom.
jabber
willyboy
Posted 1:41 PM 24/8/08
Check out this one.. [ipac.jpl.nasa.gov]
willyboy
yelraf
Posted 2:16 PM 24/8/08
wow...just fuckin' wow...images from space telescopes are absolutely awe inspiring.
yelraf
The Magnificen7
Posted 2:59 PM 24/8/08
@The Magnificen7: *some. Damn I want an edit button.
The Magnificen7
The Magnificen7
Posted 2:59 PM 24/8/08
That's it, I'm grabbing a fish bowl and ome duct tape, then I'm hitching a ride on the next space telescope that goes up. I'll have a blog going, you can follow me here.
www.didntthinkthisthrough.com
The Magnificen7
CJCS
Posted 2:59 PM 24/8/08
$800 million space telescope =T.
I'm always tied when I hear about how expensive some of these space projects are. Sometimes I just get the feeling we could do so much more by spending this money on other things (cancer research anyone?).
CJCS
distortedloop
Posted 3:12 PM 24/8/08
@CJCS: Short term and short sighted thinking. There's plenty of money involved in cancer research already, and who knows what new technologies and hopes may arrive from some of these space projects? Lots of amazing science turned everyday comforts and modern miracles from the space programs over the last 50 years, just imagine what the next will bring...
distortedloop
Faslane66
Posted 3:11 PM 24/8/08
@kydrice:
DONE!! I haz beautiful desktop wallpaper!! Thank you!! There are others there too in hi res. Sweet!!!
Trip
Faslane66
The Magnificen7
Posted 4:13 PM 24/8/08
@distortedloop: Agreed.
The Magnificen7
Visp3r
Posted 5:01 PM 24/8/08
Awestruck. I had to make a wallpaper out of it.
Here if you want [img98.imageshack.us]
Visp3r
vballas
Posted 11:33 PM 24/8/08
I want an Apple iSpaceship (but with the 2.1 software)
vballas
tamoko
Posted 12:42 AM 25/8/08
@Visp3r: Thanks Visp3r. Damn that is beautiful.
tamoko
fastm3driver
Posted 1:45 AM 25/8/08
Will some please tell these people to reformat these pretty pictures in standard monitor resolutions. Especially 1920X1200.
Increase in background use = increase in space interest = more spaceships!
fastm3driver
danmandle
Posted 2:32 AM 25/8/08
does it like prostitutes as much?
danmandle
nikeplr
Posted 4:08 AM 25/8/08
why is the picture shaped like a sim card?
nikeplr
pinkfloyd1972
Posted 5:04 AM 25/8/08
@CJCS: I agree. I'm surprised that NO ONE mentioned that this $800 million dollar telescope only had 6 years of a helium life span. I think that everyone on the planet should get T-shirts that say:
Telescope: $800,000,000
Digital camera: $5,000.00
Screwing over everyone else and taking their money: Priceless
Gotta love the limitless funding NASA gets.
pinkfloyd1972
KHarvey16
Posted 8:35 AM 25/8/08
pinkfloyd1972, I'd suggest you look up NASA's budget and compare it to other government agencies.
KHarvey16
Fagatron
Posted 12:51 AM 26/8/08
@dlmoody: There is definitely a red skull! The aliens are trying to tell us something...
Fagatron
CamelicaX
Posted 4:13 PM 24/8/08
@CJCS: I get tired of listening to people talk about how much money is spent on space research. Most of those people have no real understanding of science. Also, the 2007 NASA budget was a measly $16 billion while the nation's tobacco consumption was $66.5 billion. Maybe if we spent less money causing cancer we would need less money to cure it!
CamelicaX